Cupid Captured Part 01

“Look all you have to do is hit him with the arrow and then I’ll set you free again. Alright?” Vanessa told the cupid that she’d summoned. Right now she was off in a corner of the small college workout room pretending to do a routine watching Matt Stanford working out with his friends.

“AlL yOu HaVe To Do Is HiT hIm WiTh tHe ArRoW,” the cupid mocked. He stuck out his tongue at his captor. “Why do I have to love those stupid heart shaped cookies so much… They smelt so good and now I have to deal with this bitch…”

“Hey!” Vanessa grabbed the angel by the throat and pulled him down to her eye level. “Don’t push it. I still hold the keys. Don’t piss me off more than I already am!”

She let go of the small cupid and he floated mocking her in a quieter voice, ‘DoN’t PuSh It… Bah. You know maybe there was an easier way to get this guy’s attention than summoning an ancient mythological spirit. Did you try talking to him?”

“Fuck you. Course I tried that…” she said still staring at the football stud across the gym. He was still surrounded by his friends as they worked out. Matt was one of the QB’s for the college team and he seemed to be able to get along with just about everyone. However he still didn’t have a girlfriend. Vanessa had ‘tried’ talking to him but often found it hard to make conversation. She didn’t like football or working out. And she didn’t know what else really interested him. She’d heard him talk about TV shows and video games, but again, nothing she was into. Any conversation she did have with him was short, to the point and often about classwork. However that wasn’t going to stop her. He was too handsome to give up on.

“So what’s the game plan? Cause once those guys leave you gotta be the first person he sees,” the cupid said.

“I know that! Basically… Well… You’re going to shoot the arrow then I’m going to rush over and make sure he’s ok. Then well I guess the magic happens…” She was too busy staring at his good looks to really think of a plan.

The cupid started laughing. “Alright! Why didn’t I think of that! Just shoot him and go see him. Can’t imagine anything go wrong with that!”

Vanessa’s face went red but she didn’t have any other ideas. Lucky for her, his friends started to leave. He waved them goodbye but didn’t look like he was following them into the locker room. He sat down on a workout bench and pulled out his phone. “Perfect! We’re all alone.” She turned to the cupid. “Go on shoot!”

The cupid raised his small pink bow and cocked the heart shaped arrow. It flew across the gym and landed in the jocks shoulder. He reacted to the sudden pain in the shoulder looking down to see something sticking out of it. However he wasn’t able to react as his eyes quickly closed and his body relaxed. He couldn’t move and drifted off to sleep.

“MATT!” some guy rushed across the gym before Matt had fallen off the bench. “Damn it Matt. I knew you were going to push yourself too hard.” The guy tried pulling Matt back onto the bench but had so much trouble. His small body could barely move the 200 pound football player. But eventually he did it. The guy found himself kneeled down next to Matt trying to wake him back up. “Matt… Matt…” he repeated.

Slowly Matt opened his eyes again to see the guy next to him. “Hey there buddy,” he smiled stupidly. His eyes were still a little droopy as he was waking up.

“Hey yourself,” the guy blushed. “I told you, you were going to work yourself too hard. I should just find someone else to train me…”

“Huh?” Matt popped back up onto the bench, full of energy. “What are you talking about? I feel fine?” he said flexing his bicep in his sleeveless shirt. “Do I look tired?”

“No…” the guy continued to stare. “It’s just you just passed out. So I don’t think… Well I don’t think we should work out today. Maybe some other time but until I know you’re alright I think we should post pone it…”

Matt scrunched his face. “Fine…” he groaned. However he still looked like he was thinking about something. “Then how about dinner?” he offered.

“D-dinner?” the guy blushed again. “I… I mean… I don’t…” he was fighting the decision in his mind. “I mean… I guess so? Why not? It’s just dinner. On a Friday night… Alone…” his thoughts trailed off again. “Yeah, we can do dinner.” The two started walking away.

“Just fire the arrow and I’ll take care of the rest,” the cupid mocked. He was too busy rolling around laughing at the scene that just played out. He could see Vanessa’s face turning red with anger as she pouted over the scene.

“What the fuck!” she screamed loudly, garnering the attention of the two about to leave the gym. Her hands clasped her mouth as she realized what she had just done. “I mean… Hey,” she tried to sound cute as she could. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“Uhhh…” Matt put his hand behind his head. “I don’t know… What do you think Andy?”

Andy stared at his feet, kicking them slightly. Vanessa took the chance to interrupt. “It’s not like it’s a date or anything. So why not?”

It looked like Matt but about to say something but Andy spoke quicker. “Right. It’s not like it’s a date. That’d be crazy!” His voice cracked as he clearly forced himself to stand up straight. “Right? Like you’d ever think about that!” He added a laugh but Matt didn’t say anything.

“Exactly!” Vanessa chimed in. She shoved herself between the two guys and started walking. “You know I know this great Italian restaurant. You like Italian right?” she asked. The two nodded as they headed towards Matt’s truck. “Good. Good. You know I’ve had a couple of classes with Matt before.”

“Yeah…” Andy said. “I was in them too… I’m in accounting too. It was me, you and Matt that did the final project for the class.”

Matt stifled a laugh but the comment was enough to get Vanessa to be quiet for the rest of the car ride to the restaurant. They entered and took their seat. Vanessa made sure they got a booth so she could scoot herself right next to Matt. He didn’t say anything, just opened the menu and started looking over what they were going to eat.

“So who are you guys playing against tomorrow?” Andy asked.

Matt looked up over his menu. “The bears. According to coach they’ve been having a really good season. He wants to make sure that we’re really paying attention tomorrow.”

“But they’ve got you on the team. How much do they really have to worry?” Andy chirped up.

Matt lowered his menu and smiled a little more. “You think I’ll be able to take on a whole football team by myself?”

“You won’t be by yourself… I’m sure some of the other guys will help out,” Andy smiled.

“Do you even like football?” Vanessa asked, completely stopping the conversation.

Andy shifted uncomfortably in his side of the booth. “I mean… Not a whole lot. Just trying to make conversation. Y’know?”

Vanessa went quiet again. Again, Andy had made her feel like a third wheel. With just a few sentences, Andy had pretty much told her to shut up and go away. She grit her teeth. “I’ll be right back. Just get me a Dr. Pepper when the waiter comes back.” Vanessa left and headed towards the bathroom. She grabbed the cupid in the air and pulled him along.

“What? Time to set me free?” the cupid mocked.

“You know full well that’s not what I wanted to happen!” she barked.

The cupid just rolled his eyes. “You said as long as I fire the arrow you’ll set me free. You didn’t say anything about him falling in love with you.”

“It was implied!” Vanessa nearly shouted. She still managed to keep it as a loud whisper.

“Ehh… Deals don’t deal with implications,” he floated there still with an almost bragging demeanor. Vanessa grit her teeth. She hated how he was right. A deal’s technically a deal and he did keep his end of the bargain. “Hey,” the cupid started off, “how about I let you have a free one?” Vanessa was skeptical. “Hear me out. You know how they say opposites attract? Maybe I should make them more like each other. So they are less likely to be in a relationship.”

A low, ‘grrrrrr,’ vibrated in her mouth as she grinded her teeth. But at the same time she didn’t exactly have much better of an option. “Fine…” she accepted.

“You serious?” the cupid fell back a bit astonished. “I mean no questions or anything?”

“Just fucking do it!” Vanessa raised her voice and it echo off the tile. She threw her hands to her mouth. “Just do it,” she said with the same anger in a more whispered tone.

“On it!” Vanessa followed him out of the bathroom and hid behind the wall. The cupid readied his bow and shot an arrow towards Andy. The arrow plowed right into his arm nearly knocking him against the wall.

“The Hell?” even across the room she could see Andy mutter it. Then she saw something weird start happening to him. It was hard to tell but she almost thought she could see him growing. The thin dangling limbs he called arms started to add some muscle mass to them. They were clearly starting to round out and fill the sleeves of his medium sized shirt. Even his chest pushed against it. She couldn’t help but notice his jawline seemed to be more defined as he laughed with Matt who was currently making fun of him for nearly falling over while sitting down. Their more awkward attempts at conversation had grown into a full on joking fest as each one was clearly trying to outdo the other.

Vanessa turned to the cupid. “What the Hell did you do!?” she grabbed the cherub by the neck.

“I made it so Andy asked to start working out with Matt several years ago instead of today. He’d had his eyes on that football player forever. And well… That football player had his eyes on a little nerd too,” the cupid shrugged. “So… Now they’re more alike. Feel free to release me.”

Vanessa just stomped her foot. “No! Matt’s supposed to be with me! I like him! Not until Matt likes me will I release you!”

“This is the second time you are breaking a deal. Understand that consequences that there are consequences for messing with the supernatural!”

She wasn’t listening. Instead she was distracted by the fact the Matt and Andy were getting up from the table. She rushed over to see them. “Hey, what’s going on guys?” she asked out of breath.

“So my mom called and she said that I needed to go home,” Andy lied.

“But…” Vanessa said.

“Yeah we need to get going. You can find a ride right?” Matt said. He wrapped his arm around Andy. He was still a good few inches taller than Matt but their bodies were a little closer in comparison. Obviously Andy wasn’t nearly as large or defined but they clearly looked like they worked out together.

“But…”

“I’m sure you can,” Andy said giving her a light slap with the back of his hand to her side. They started walking away but Vanessa could still clearly hear him. “Sorry! I don’t know why I invited her. I thought she’d say no!”

“Don’t worry buddy. You were just trying to be nice,” Matt gave Andy a kiss on the forehead. “But you need to work on your lies a little more.”

“It’s not like you were saying anything!” Andy shot back.

Vanessa stared as they were clearly throwing playful jabs at each other. “Why can’t I have something like that…”